A Good Brother
by metalcurtainrod
Summary: A short story about an Earth Kingdom soldier that will do anything to protect his little brother. Rated for violence.


Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender. If I did, it would be called Zuko: the Banished Prince.

Hisashi looked back and forth frantically. He looked among the hundreds of soldiers still fighting, but could not see Eiji. He looked among the thousands of corpses and prayed none of them were Eiji.

He heard a loud whipping noise, and instinctively lurched to the right, but was too late. A long black arrow pierced the side of his torso. But he did not care, he had been trained to endure great amounts of pain, and he already had blood covering almost all of his armor, from both him and the enemies he had slain. All he cared about now was finding Eiji.

He had promised Eiji he would look after him, that no matter what, they would be returning home after this battle. "If it weren't for that damned firebender," he thought bitterly, "I'd know exactly where my brother was!" He ran at a slow pace, making sure he didn't miss him. He ripped the arrow out, and continued his search.

Then, he saw him. He could tell it was him because he was wearing the shirt their sister made for him underneath his armor: a vivid green, with the Earth Kingdom symbol lining the edges of the sleeves. It was much nicer than all the other soldiers' clothes, but Hisashi knew why he had chose to wear that shirt today of all days. It was Eiji's first battle, a day he had been looking forward to his whole life, and therefore wore something special on this special day.

Every boy in his village knew that when they turned 16, it was expected of them to fight for their nation. Not everyone did it, because of other responsibilities or simple cowardice, but every man in his family had fought and died in the war for the past 3 generations. He and his brother would be different, though. They would stick together and survive this war.

He had too much to live for, he thought as memories of his wife came to his mind. She was pregnant and due any day now, but he had promised he would be back in time to see the birth of their child. They had already named the child: Aiguo if he is a boy, and Meilin if she is a girl.

Now was not the time to think of home, he though to himself. Now was the time to fight for his kingdom, and honor.

He ran toward his brother, who was in a fight with a Fire Nation soldier, and by the looks of it, in way over his head. He could tell by the man's decorated uniform that he was a high ranking official. His thick cover was ornamented with a gold design, with the hellish flames those savage firebenders liked to adorn on everything.

Hisashi bolted towards him, prepared to protect his brother. He ran up the slope where they were fighting, when yet another arrow shot toward him, this one narrowly missing his head.

He took a look at the archer who had pursued him throughout his search for his younger brother. He had a tattoo around his eyes. It's rich, red color reminded him sickeningly of blood, its shape like that of a creature of hell. The archer looked like a demon.

He had no time to be scared, he told himself. He promised his brother he'd protect him, he told himself.

He continued to close the gap between him and his brother, when he felt he could no longer move. He looked down to see his pants had been pinned to the ashy rock beneath him by a long, black arrow.

Yanking his pant leg from the ground, the archer had caught up with him. Doing away with his bow and arrows, the archer got into what he recognized as a firebending stance.

He had no time to be afraid, he reminded himself. He promised his brother he'd protect him, and this guy would pay for holding him up.

The demon archer created a large flame in his fist, the light from the blaze gave his eyes a fiendish glow. As the firebender extended his arm, Hisashi brought out his long sword, attempting to block the firebender's attack. Hisashi felt an intense heat wash over him, but he was able to stop the archer's assault from giving him more than a flesh wound.

Taking a quick glance in Eiji's direction, Hisashi saw that his brother was foolishly focusing too much on offense and not on defense—either Hisashi kills the archer soon, or Eiji would get slaughtered. Pure adrenaline was controlling Hisashi. His brother was not weak, but he was young and inexperienced, and he was up against what must have been a trained warrior.

Abandoning all rules of fighting, all the training he had learned in his twenty-four years, Hisashi stabbed his long sword in the direction of the archer. Blood gushed out of the wound in the archer's chest unnaturally, but Hisashi didn't care to look. As he bolted toward Eiji and the Fire Nation soldier, he didn't even see the raging battle surrounding him. All he could see was the fight between Eiji and the Fire Nation man.

"Eiji!" he yelled. "Get away from there!" he said. He should have known his brother would look towards him if he called, completely forgetting he was in a fight. He should have kept his mouth shut, but warning his only brother when he was in danger was instinctive to him; he did not think before saying it. The Fire Nation soldier took advantage of this interference, and with one swipe of his arm, a huge fire blast hit Eiji, knocking him to the floor.

Eiji eyes widened like they never had before as he fell. There was a mix of fear, pain, and somehow, relief. "NO!" exclaimed Hisashi, as he slammed his body into the soldier, forgetting his weapons completely. The Fire Nation warrior fell to the ground, completely caught off guard; his triumphant expression changed to fear as he looked up at his assailant. Regaining his footing, Hisashi stabbed his weapon into the soldier's heart not once, but three times. Hisashi's uniform now resembled the clothes of the soldier he just killed: a blood-dyed red.

When Hisashi was done, he dropped the sword and ran to his brother who was still breathing, albeit irregularly. He kneeled next to him. "Eiji…" Hisashi said softly. "What were you thinking going against that man?"

"He k-killed," Eiji started in spurted breaths, as if he were chocking on his own dwindling life force "he killed Juro." He looked toward a body nearby that Hisashi recognized as the lifeless form of their cousin, Juro. His thin hand was still clutching a gold necklace around his neck, though his eyes were vacant. Hisashi's dark brown eyes started to water.

"Eiji," Hisashi started, not knowing how to say this "you don't look too good." That was understatement. Hisashi was wondering how Eiji was still alive with the huge burns covering most of his body.

"At least I'll die with honor," he said, smiling sadly. Hisashi didn't return the smile.

"Don't say that," he said angrily. "Of course you're not going to die, we'll get you home and you'll recover."

"Hisashi, I can't even stand."'

"Then I'll carry you," Hisashi snapped stubbornly. "We're both going home."

"There's still a…battle…going on." His voice was getting more and more incoherent. "You won't…survive if you have to carry me." He coughed out an alarming amount of blood. Hisashi didn't say anything, and lifted his brother's body and made his way to the edge of the battle, the cries of the fallen ringing in his ears as mere echos, and the wind whipping his face.

As he ran in the direction of the military outpost he knew was only a half an hours jog from here, he didn't notice that Eiji had stopped breathing. He didn't even notice the archer he thought he had killed had followed him. Maybe if he did, things wouldn't have happened like they did. With a loud snap from the bow, both Hisashi and Eiji fell the floor, lifeless.

Meanwhile, in a pleasant EK city untouched by the war, a baby named Meilin was born.

A/N: I hope you like it :) Please review if you like it or have constructive criticism.


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